Food: Easy Cheese Danish Bars

I am always on the lookout for yummy recipes that yield a lot (and don't take that long to make), making them great to take to get-togethers. I found this recipe via pinterest the other day, and decided to give it a try for our women's bible study night. They were really, really good :) I usually only make sweets and such when I'm going to a get-together or we are having people over :) That way they get eaten (and not all by me ;)).

I adapted the recipe slightly and was fairly pleased with the results. The recipe calls for a fair amount of cheese filling to be made, and I halved it per the suggestion of the blogger (and used less sugar than called for, and more vanilla than called for). I think next time I will try the full amount (listed below, but sugar and vanilla amounts are my change), to add more of the cheese filling flavor.

Easy Cheese Danish Bars - adapted slightly from The Adventures of Kitchen Girl

2 cans refrigerated crescent rolls

2- 8 oz. pkgs. cream cheese

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp. vanilla extract

1 egg

1 egg white

Glaze:

3/4 cup powdered sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

2 Tbsp. milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9"x13" glass baking dish. Unroll one can of crescent rolls and line the bottom of the dish, pinching seams together.

Beat together the cream cheese, sugar, vanilla extract and one egg, until smooth. Spread mixture evenly over the crescent roll layer in the dish.

Unroll the other can of crescent rolls, pinch the seams together and then place over top of the cream cheese mixture in the baking dish. Beat egg white slightly and brush over top of the crescent roll layer.

Bake for 30-35 minutes or until top is golden brown. Cool for about 10-15 minutes. While cooling, whisk together powdered sugar, vanilla extract and milk. Drizzle over slightly cooled danish. Cut into 1"x 2" bars and serve warm. Enjoy!

Project Life: Week 10

Welcome to my first-ever Project Life update :) I mentioned in this post several days ago that I decided to go for it and start Project Life (albeit several weeks late ;)).  I have decided I already love this project and am excited to see the year progress through the pages.

I decided to forgo purchasing journaling cards (however, I did buy these) and make my own from papers I already have on hand (vintage ledgers, graph papers, office-y type papers), and a few papers I had purchased (Amy Tangerine paper). I also purchased a custom set of journaling cards from Xenia of saturdayAMvintage. 

I copied my blog post from the other day talking about my starting Project Life and made it into a 4"x6" journaling card. I felt like it fit well with the beginning of the project (and explaining why I'm starting with Week 10 :)).

I designed these printable journaling cards a couple weeks ago and used one of them in this week's layout.

All in all, I'm excited and super glad I decided to go for it. Am hoping that this is still the case in several months (I do believe it will be :)).

To read more about Project Life and what it is, go here.

supplies used: photo pocket pages style A (from the big variety pack), journaling cards available here or special order here, october afternoon mini market stickers, various washi tapes available here and here,  Amy Tangerine Mix Tape, Basic Grey Picadilly Collection letter stickers, optima font, the great escape font (available for free here), old press font (available for free here).  all pictures and text printed on my epson r320 and dell 2130cn.

Sponsor Spotlight: Angela of The Pink 'Dillo

My name is Angela, and I'm the owner of The Pink 'Dillo. I live in Austin, Texas with my boyfriend and our little chihuahua, Scar. I've worked for a property management company the last eight years and currently manage a small staff in our corporate office.  Most of my nights and weekends are spent working on my Etsy shop, but when I can tear myself away from crafting or other Etsy-related activities I also enjoy cooking and baking (and eating!), reading, doing Yoga and, when I get the chance to, traveling!  

My obsession with paper began in college when I started scrapbooking, but I've always had the crafty "bug" growing up. As soon as I discovered Etsy a couple of years ago, I was hooked, both as a seller and a buyer. I love being a part of the hand-made community, and knowing that I'm buying something unique and fabulous while also supporting other small businesses and artisans.  I've especially become addicted to handmade soaps and bath products - much like my paper obession, I just can't stop buying more!  

The Pink 'Dillo offers a variety of paper goods including gift and favor tags, confetti, embellishments, stickers, and cards, as well as magnets and my newest item - hand-stamped glassine bags.  I love using pretty papers, fun patterns, and bright colors in my items, but also love simple, elegant, and rustic touches as well. I find inspiration everywhere and always seem to have at least 5 or 6 projects going on at one time. I've had several new ideas and product lines in the works for a while now, and my goal for 2012 is to hopefully release at least 3 or 4 of them in my shop....we'll see what the rest of the year brings!

a few faves

Happy Monday :) Our warm(er) weather here continues :) Spring is on it's way! A few faves I am loving right now-- so springy. Enjoy :)

1. Postcards Set of 3 - Summer by Melasha
2. Paperstreaks Notebook by paperstreak
3. Elessa in Light Green Corduroy by milloo
4. Antique Aqua Blue Bottles from LittleKittenVintage
5. Antique Shabby Chic Rustic Watering Can from 3 vintagehearts
6. Textile Necklace with Green Lace - Vintage Style by skrynka
7. Comfy Drawstring Cotton Pants by oOlives
8. Divine Twine - Aqua from BahanaSplitsBoutique
9. Hydrangea Flower Bin by hoganfe
10. Blue Cross Japanese Washi Tape from PrettyTape

DIY :: Paper Bunting Greeting Card

I have seen a lot of cute bunting ideas floating around all over the www and decided to do a quick project making and using bunting. I had a bunch of old paper scraps and decided to make a little greeting card :)

I printed "hello, friend" on a blank greeting card to get started. You could also handwrite any sort of message. 

 

I cut out some triangular pennant-looking shapes from a rainbow of old paper scraps.

I then measured and placed two sets of dots to know where to punch my holes to string the bunting string through (you could also eyeball it :)).

 And then punched the holes with a 1/16" paper punch- you could also use a pushpin to punch the holes.

 I strung some baker's twine through and tied them on the interior of the card.

 And then arranged the flags how I wanted them to be placed.

And adhered them with permanent rolling adhesive. I butted them up against and a tad over the baker's twine to hold the baker's twine in place.

 Voila! A simple and quick bunting greeting card :)

hello, Project Life 2012.

I finally made the decision to jump into Project Life - albeit a couple (ok, several) weeks late. I had been debating it for awhile and decided to hold off and not purchase any materials. Over the first several weeks of January, and on into February, I read and surfed several blogs that I like to read, and read over different bloggers' takes on Project Life. I pretty much read nothing but good things about it.

So I decided to make the jump. I ordered the page protectors (these and these), some 2"x2" slot page protectors and a blank binder. Typically, I am all about DIY mini-book making, and using found (and inexpensive) elements. I thought through it a lot and decided that I would incorporate a lot of my own found (and inexpensive ;)) elements. I made my own journaling cards (I have some packs available here in my shop) and also purchased a custom-made set from Xenia of saturdayAMvintage. Additionally, I purchased this set from the Project Life line.

So, I'm just getting started. A little late. But getting started nonetheless. I read on a blog that it's better to get started a couple weeks late in 2012 than to wish I had started a couple weeks late when the end of 2012 rolls around. I'm also glad that this will fulfill one of my 2012 Goals of keeping a monthly album for my family. I do also plan on continuing to create mini-albums of different events and time spans, this will not take the place of that :)

It's a pretty big commitment. I'm a little nervous about it, to be honest :) But excited. Super excited.

To read more about Project Life and what it is, go here.

St. Patrick's Day Printable

St. Patrick's Day is almost here - 10 days :) I think it's a fun little holiday to celebrate - especially because my hubby is of Irish descent :) Every holiday, my sweet grandmama would give us a little bag of chocolate coins, the kind wrapped in gold foil. It was always a highlight for my sisters and I to each receive a bag.

So I decided to make a printable bag topper for those cute little bags of gold coins. Right click to save the below file, print on cardstock and trim to 2.5"x 2.5". Fold down the middle and staple to a bag of gold coins (you can usually find these at any grocery store or dollar store). Voila! A cute and fun little gift for St. Patrick's Day :)

As with all printables I share here, these are for personal use only. Thanks :)

photoboother

Have you heard of photoboother?! It's a fun website where you can upload your own photographs, choose a frame, and create your own photostrip. You can then download it, email it to yourself, or order prints. Such a fun idea to create your own faux-photobooth photo strips. Perfect to create and use in journals or mini albums!

I created this little photostrip of a "Date Night with My Love" (I resized the image, as they print out nice and large, but I wanted a small version for a 4"x6" album) and put it into a mini album along with some journaling about our evening :) 

Food: Lemon Bars

Happy Monday! These yummy lemon bars are a fave in our house :) Also great to take to get-togethers :)

Lemon Bars

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup confectioners' sugar

3/4 cup butter or margarine, softened

3 eggs

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. lemon juice

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar for decoration

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish. Combine the flour, 2/3 cup confectioners' sugar, and butter with pastry blender. Pat dough into a crust in prepared pan.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until lightly golden. While crust is baking, whisk together eggs, white sugar, flour, and lemon juice until frothy. When crust is finished, whisk lemon mixture once more and then pour over the hot crust.

Return to the preheated oven for 20 to 25 more minutes, or until light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Dust the top with confectioners' sugar. Cut into squares.

around here

Just ordered and received a bunch of new washi tape and decorative tape. I love this stuff. *EDITED to add: Thanks for the questions! I purchase most of my washi tape on etsy: the tapes on the right are all from PrettyTape, the ones on the left are from InTheClear (two rolls on the bottom) and itsalwaysfabulous (three rolls on top- Amy Tangerine MixTape). + Finished cutting and putting together some journaling card packs perfect for Project Life (or any scrapbooking layout or mini album, really)- go here to check them out. + We've been eating a lot of grapes around here lately. Random, I know. That whole bunch in the picture? My sweet son ate the whole lot in 20 minutes. By himself :) + Been putting together more and more scrap packs. + We have a walker! Sweet Joshua is walking all over the place. It is adorable to watch. Makes my heart happy and sad all at the same time (he's growing up way too fast... both my sons are). + We've had some unseasonably warm days here. Enjoying going to the park, being outside, and having the windows open and watching and listening to the outdoors. Love.

Sponsor Spotlight: Natalka of Skrynka

A big welcome to my new sponsors! I am excited to share a little bit more about each sponsor through these "Sponsor Spotlights". Please take a minute to visit their businesses by clicking on their ad on the right sidebar. Enjoy! :)

My name is Natalka. I was born and have lived in Ukraine all my life. I live with my husband and little son and my dream is to have a big family, live near the sea and have my crafting business as a day job.

 

I have always loved crafting. My biggest passion is embroidery, which has been a very popular art in Ukraine through the ages. I have a few festive towels which were embroidered by my Granny in the early 20th century, and they have always inspired me to create. All the ornaments have deep meaning, and most of all I like that you can find common elements in ethnic embroidery all over the world. Indeed all people are brothers and sisters.

In 2010 I became a stay at home mom. And then I started my Etsy shop - Skrynka. In Ukrainian, "Skrynka" means "little box, treasury chest". So I imagined it like a little box with ethnic treasures - jewelry pieces and home decor.

Most of my creations are inspired by ethnic motifs, but sometimes I like to make something modern and abstract. Or just cute and funny :)

well hello, March.

A big welcome to my new sponsors! I am excited to share these talented shop and business owners. Please take a minute to check out their businesses by clicking on their links on the right sidebar.

I will be doing a "Sponsor Spotlight" on each sponsor - a little bit more about them, their inspiration and a glimpse into their lives. So be on the lookout :)

Want to be a sponsor for the month of March? Go here to check out more info. and send me an email :)